Category Archive: News

American Attorney Zachary D Norris of Norris Echetebu Law presented the first of Meteoroid and Wharf42 Program free tech webinars for Kiwi start-ups ‘Understanding US Company Structures & Legal Contracts’. In the first of the Wharf42′s and Meteoroid’s free tech webinars below, Mr Norris talks about the different company structures available to New Zealand tech …

THE UCC LIEN For those businesses unfamiliar with US commercial law it is important to understand how integral the Uniform Commercial Code (the “UCC”) and UCC Liens are to this particular field of law. The UCC is a collection of model codes which was originally drafted by the American Law Institute and was adopted by …

THE US PORT LABOR STRIKE: FORCE MAJEURE? Many New Zealand exporters to the United States have felt the impact of the ongoing labor strike between the US Longshore and Warehouse Union (“ILWU”) and the Pacific Maritime Association (the association which represents US West Coast cargo carriers, terminal operators and stevedores). The dispute’s central issue concerns …

US Workplace Safety Standards Imagine that a New Zealand business’s US subsidiary has been sued in the United States. One of its customer’s employees was injured by its operations on the job site. The CEO of the subsidiary has been placed on the witness stand and is being grilled by the plaintiff’s attorney as to …

THE LEGAL RISK OF DIY New Zealand is a proud Do-It-Yourself (“DIY”) nation whose people demonstrate what we Americans admiringly call “rugged individualism”. This national character trait likely takes its roots from the construction of a society so far away from the rest of the world thereby creating a unique mixture of self-reliance and communal …

PROTECT YOUR NEW ZEALAND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY Understanding the protection afforded to your intellectual property by US law is of key importance when doing business in the United States. Many a hopeful entrepreneur has found his or her ideas stolen or their intellectual property copied because they did not take the necessary steps to protect themselves. …

MINIMUM RETAIL PRICE PROTECTION WHEN ENTERING THE US’ COMMERCIAL MARKETS Norris Echetebu Law – American Law Specialists It’s always a good idea to create and maintain a unified pricing strategy when taking your goods to market in the United States. However, protecting your retail price is more difficult than one might imagine. Unless you …

Norris Echetebu Law – American Law Specialists Arbitration: Is It Really All It’s Cracked Out To Be? Most international commercial agreements contain clauses which provide for final and binding arbitration to settle any disputes between the parties. Many lawyers are inclined to tell their clients that arbitration is the best way to settle commercial disputes, …

US Employment Issues – Part 2 – The Independent Contractor* In our Auckland practice we have the privilege of working with many New Zealand clients that are expanding their businesses into the United States. Often times these clients enter into contractual relationships with American distributors or sales agents/marketing representatives rather than sending one of their …

Norris Echetebu Law is honored to be a new contributor to the monthly American Chamber of Commerce New Zealand Newsletter. Our new column which is entitled “Legal Issues” will feature topics of interest to New Zealand- US business and legal matters. The first column which was published on March 24, 2014 is the first in …

US Employment Challenges – Part 1 – The At-Will Employee* New Zealand businesses expanding into the US often face the following decisions of whether: (1) to directly hire employees in the US; (2) to hire a third-party contractor who acts as the Kiwi business’s agent, (3) to hire a third party employment agency to manage …

Have you been told that your US branch HAS to be incorporated in Delaware to take advantage of the management friendly laws, or that you NEED to incorporate in Nevada or Wyoming to escape state income taxes? Do you need to choose your State of Incorporation? Have you run across services boasting of the advantages …

Most agreements contain clauses which select the law of the jurisdiction, the Jurisdiction Selection Clause, which controls the interpretation of the agreement. Many business people fail to realize that this selection will also, for the most part, determine the law which controls any dispute over the contract as well. We have run into several cases …

NEC Partner, Ada Echetebu spoke as the US Legal and Regulatory Affairs expert at the American Chamber of Commerce New Zealand’s ‘Doing Business with the USA’ event in Christchurch on November 7, 2013. Ms. Ada Echetebu spoke about the importance of Kiwi entrepreneurs investing in proper US legal counsel prior to embarking on and participating …

Ms. Ada Echetebu will take the stage during the American Chamber of Commerce event ‘Doing Business with the USA’ in Auckland on October 16, and in Christchurch on November 7. American Chamber of Commerce New Zealand: Doing business with the USA Auckland Programme When: 16 Oct 2013, 2:00 PM – 7:00 PM Location: ANZ, 23-29 …

The Monsanto Protection Act Bill – Is All the Hype True? Recently there has been a lot of misinformation floating around the Internet regarding what is dubiously referred to as “The Monsanto Protection Act”, giving rise to such claims as “the US Government has granted Monsanto absolute immunity from prosecution in US courts.” This claim …

On May 8, 2013, LL.M.(Hons) degrees were conferred upon Norris Echetebu Law partners, Ada Echetebu and Zachary D. Norris by the University of Auckland Law School. Ada received her LL.M. in International Corporate and Commercial Law and Mr. Norris received his in International Dispute Resolution.

US Attorney General Eric Holder Addresses the Faculty of Law at University of Auckland The United States Attorney General Eric Holder was in Auckland on May 7, 2013 to meet with the attorney generals of the Quintet (NZ, Australia, UK, USA and Canada) to discuss international cooperation on fighting cyber crime, human trafficking, corruption, child …

The United States Supreme Court recently issued an opinion regarding the US Alien Tort Claims Act. Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (No. 10-1491, April 17, 2013). In this case, Nigerian nationals residing in the United States attempted to sue Shell Oil Company for violations of the “Laws of Nations” in Nigeria. Specifically, these Nigerian nationals …

Our Answers to your legal questions. Have Questions? We are happy to provide you with Answers. We have compiled a list of our answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for you below:* 1. Why should use Norris Echetebu Law’s American legal expertise instead of a New Zealand-based Law firm for our US-related legal matters? Answer: …

One of the most striking differences between the US and the NZ legal system is the rule regarding the payment of attorney fees by the litigants. In New Zealand, and in most other Common Law courts, attorney fees of the litigants are controlled by the English Rule. The English Rule provides, in general, that the …

On March 28, 2013, Norris Echetebu Law’s partners, Ada Echetebu and Zachary D Norris had the extreme privilege of attending a private lunch with US Ambassador to New Zealand, His Excellency David Huebner at the private residence of US Consul General in Auckland. The lunch was a meeting of the top echelon of US business …

About US Employment Law: The Family Medical Leave Act is a federal US law which applies to businesses with 50 or more employees. It provides an employee with 12 weeks unpaid leave who has a serious medical condition or a close family member with a serious medical condition. The employer is entitled to maintain any …

New Zealand Exports and the Time Zone Dilemma for exporting to America New Zealand exports: The future of New Zealand’s economy lays in exports, as the domestic population growth is too slow to raise domestic production significantly. That means that New Zealand businesses need to be ready to enter the global market place. New Zealand …

Perhaps no one wants to say it, or admit it, but there seems to be a crises in some state courts in the US. As part of our business in New Zealand, we regularly return to the United States to go to trial for my clients in both the US and NZ. However, it is …

With the Auckland round of the TPP negotiations wrapping up this week, many Kiwi nay-sayers in the press have declared it an overall loss for New Zealand (See Gordon Campbell and Jane Kelsey). Yet my talks with almost every New Zealand business dealing in any way with the United States believe the exact opposite. Also, …

TPPA As the next round of TPPA negotiations has come to Auckland, there has been increased chatter regarding the idea that the investor-state dispute mechanism in the proposed investment chapter should be scrapped. The investor-state dispute arbitration system, which has been around since the mid 20th century, has undergone recent scrutiny because of its perceived …

The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement with New Zealand The United States, and therefore American Law, is entering into an exciting new era of economic participation in the Trans-Pacific arena (the market spanning the Pacific between North America, the West Coast of South America, the Asian Pacific, Australia and New Zealand). In the past American participation …

When I first came to New Zealand a year ago, I was astounded by the natural beauty and the warmth of the people. But this did not come as a surprise to me. What I was surprised by was the very savvy business culture which pervades New Zealand. It makes sense that an island nation …

Why the American Election 2012 Matters in NZ American Election 2012: A contradictory sense of pride and trepidation enshrouds me every 4 years on the first Tuesday in November when the United States elects its president. Pride in that the soaring rhetoric of the candidates’ campaigns prompts a belief that the legacy of the United …

Approach to Drugs: New Zealand is not new to the drug epidemic. Approach to Drugs in New Zealand, American style: However, the wheels of justice turn very slow and the New Zealand legal system is now looking to modernise its approach to the drug epidemic. Just Minister Judith Collins decision to install an American style …

Master of Laws: Norris Legal Consulting congratulates its Principal, Zachary D. Norris on the completion of his Master of Laws (LL.M.) requirements. On 10 October 2012, Mr. Norris, Master of Laws, submitted his L.L.M. Research Portfolio at the University of Auckland Postgraduate Faculty of Law. Mr. Norris’ portfolio, supervised by Professor Peter Watts, consists of …

Hollywood Entertainment Law With the New Zealand Prime Minister, John Key’s recent push to attract American television and movie production to New Zealand by offering a 15% tax rebate, we can expect to see an increase in the amount of entertainment employment available. New Zealand actors and film industry workers have experienced working with the …

Incorporation in the United States: New Zealand clients wishing to incorporate in the United States should definitely sit down with a US lawyer and a US tax adviser to discuss the options involved. Many clients simply wish to have a business presence in the US where they plan on doing business. For the majority of the Norris …

Norris Echetebu Law congratulates its Senior US Legal Adviser Ada Echetebu on the completion of her Master of Laws requirements. On 25 September, Ms. Echetebu submitted her LL.M. Research Portfolio at the University of Auckland Postgraduate Faculty of Law. Ms. Echetebu’s portfolio, supervised by Professor Peter Watts and Amokura Kawharu, consists of three papers: The …

New Zealand business and American Law As the co-founder of Norris Echetebu Law, the first dedicated American law firm in New Zealand, I am very interested in finding out what kind of American legal advice is most needed by Kiwis. While we offer a full range of business advice, a large amount of our Kiwi …

New Zealand and US perspectives on American Gun Culture. Norris Echetebu Law on the Air in New Zealand about American Gun Culture: One of the things that we love to do here in New Zealand is to provide a US legal perspective to the media and other special interest groups. We were invited to discuss …

Experts in American Law: Thank you to Lawfuel for the nice welcome! Check out their article on our firm: http://www.lawfuel.co.nz/news/283/first-dedicated-us-law-firm-set-up-kiwi-base “The first US law firm to set up business in New Zealand has been established in Auckland. Norris Echetebu Law, based in Houston and experts in American Law, has established offices in Queen Street as …